The use of touch-sensitive surfaces as input devices for computers and other electronic computing devices has increased significantly in recent years. Exemplary touch-sensitive surfaces include touch pads and touch screen displays. Such surfaces are widely used to manipulate user interface objects on a display so as to activate/deactivate applications associated with different user interface objects.
But users often find it cumbersome and inefficient when navigating back and forth between applications using existing methods of manipulating different user interface objects. For example, existing methods do not provide a simple, intuitive way for a user to deactivate or suspend a new application and resume a previous application from which the new application was launched. As a result, existing methods create a significant cognitive burden on a user and reduce the user's willingness to invoke new applications. In addition, existing methods take longer than necessary, thereby wasting energy. This latter consideration is particularly important in battery-operated devices.